Greetings!

A few weeks ago, I took a poll on Facebook to see if anyone would read a cooking blog if I made one.  I like posting my food pictures on Facebook, but the caption area doesn't really allow me to explain what I did, post recipe changes, or write in depth about my food.  So, meet my blog, The Kitchen Frog! 

No one sat me down and taught me how to cook.  I think I owe my ability to 80% teaching myself via trial and error, 15% advice from friends and family, and 5% YouTube videos.  I find that when I make a dish well, it's really good.  But when it goes wrong, it's a spectacular failure.  I'll post both my successes and failures here, since I try to learn from my mistakes.  Plus, I think it's funny when the smoke detector plays an integral part in my meal preparation. 

My cooking philosophy is simple: if it looks tasty, I'll make it!  I love international cuisine and go through periods of focus on different areas of the world.  Right now, I'm enjoying my three Middle Eastern cookbooks.  I love learning about different countries through their food.  It's important to me to eat healthy most of the time.  I try to make at least one vegetarian meal a week, and I avoid overly processed foods whenever I can. But, occasionally I have the urge to make a giant pile of pasta, cover it with creamy cheese sauce, and garnish it with sausage.  I can't bake my way out of a paper bag because so much precision is required and I can't cover up my mistakes with garlic.  So, if you see a "dessert" here, it's probably very simple and requires little or no baking. 

Growing up, I always had homecooked meals of (mostly) healthy food.  That said, one of my parents is an extremely picky eater so there wasn't a great deal of variation.  So, when I first started getting serious about cooking, I had the attention span of a goldfish.  I never made the same thing twice!  I wanted to go on a culinary journey around the world every week.  This drove my husband a little nuts because when he liked a dish, he wanted to eat it again at some point in the future.  But, goldfish brain could not be stopped, and before I knew it, I had acquired an army of international cookbooks.  After I calmed down a little, I established a repertoire of tried and true recipes that always work.  Now, each week, I usually make 4 or 5 dishes that I've made before, and 2 or 3 experiments. 

I'm also not yet skilled enough to create my own recipes that taste awesome.  I'm still at the point where I stick to the recipe or tweak one that I am familiar with.  I have three culinary goals.  First, to create original recipes that I can proudly feed to company.  Second, work on my presentation.  Third, develop some meals that can be made quickly on work nights. 

Welcome to my blog!  I promise to keep the profanity to a minimum.  ;)